What to watch

Relax, the transition is near faultless. Yes, Netflix’s lavish period drama The Crown is back today and, despite having an allnew cast, it continues to deliver right royal entertainment in its third season. It begins in 1964 and, a dozen years into Queen Elizabeth II’s reign (now played by Olivia Colman), she has matured from young queen to ‘‘mother-of-four and settled sovereign’’ (or ‘‘old bat’’, as she puts it), something cleverly reflected in the latest stamp issue from the Royal Post.

But that doesn’t mean the challenges of the position have lessened.

A now bedridden Winston Churchill (John Lithgow) warns Elizabeth ‘‘that a cold wind of socialism is blowing through the land’’, as Britons prepare to go to the polls. While a change in government might offer welcome relief from soaring house prices, a worsening annual trade deficit and a succession of sex scandals, there are grave concerns about the Labour Party’s potential prime minister Harold Wilson (Jason Watkins).

Rumours swirl that he’s actually a Russian spy, fuelled by earlier visits to Moscow. Upon meeting him, even the Queen is somewhat suspicious that he has ‘‘come from nowhere and is entirely unremarkable’’. So she’s not completely surprised when she receives a visit from MI6, but is truly shocked when it turns out a Soviet mole is actually someone much closer to her.

Meanwhile, trouble is also brewing elsewhere in Buckingham Palace. Lord Snowdon (Ben Daniels) appears to be increasingly avoiding the attentions of his wife, Princess Margaret (Helena Bonham Carter), preferring his dark room to the bedroom. And parties have become her solace.